


The Healing Hearts' Demo

by qunimees (rqyh)



Series: Broken Record [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: I tried doing the descriptive writing my 10-year-old self used to do, Long-ass Paragraphs, Longest fic for haikyuu, M/M, Motorcycle Rides, One Crazy Night, Probably my favorite part of this series, Still more than what I'd let myself do, The first chapter is just a table of contents, This is my second-longest fic, Tho 'crazy' is subjective, nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-10-28 00:53:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10820304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rqyh/pseuds/qunimees
Summary: A night filled with empty amusement parks, pebbles thrown at the window, chasing each other down the streets of Tokyo, and more. So much more.





	1. Tracklist

**Author's Note:**

> ~~NOTE: This is just the table of contents. The actual story hasnt been posted yet. The first chapter will be up sometime next week.~~  
>  NOTE AFTER THE NOTE: The actual story has now been posted.  
> 

**i. YOUTH**  | Troye Sivan

 

 **ii. Style**  | Taylor Swift

 

 **iii. Cool for the Summer**  | Demi Lovato

 

 **iv. 불장난 (Playing with Fire)**  | BLACKPINK

 

 **v. Roman Holiday**  | Halsey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The theme for this playlist is "songs you listen to on a midnight ride around the city."


	2. Track One - Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **"Cross your fingers, here we go." _Troye Sivan, Youth_**

Tetsurou isn’t sure what he expected when he angrily threw his covers off of him to go check whatever it was that was making that _tink-tink-tink-_ ing sound on the glass panes of his window in the middle of the night, but he definitely wasn’t expecting it to be his own best friend throwing pebbles from the hood of his jacket, his tiny fragile body balancing in a small awkward crouch as he perches on top of a branch of a tree right across Tetsurou’s room window.

            “Kuro,” Kenma says, eyes wide. “You woke up.”

            Tetsurou has half a mind to reach out to pull Kenma off from the branch and bring him down into his room, before going absolutely livid, eyes bulging out of his sockets and a vein on his forehead threatening to pop.

            “ _Kenma, what the ever-loving fuck,_ ” he yells. (It’s more of a yelling-whisper, as his mother is in the room next to him, and Tetsurou would rather not have his mother walk in with a table lamp like she did the last time Tetsurou woke up screaming.)

            “Language, Kuro,” Kenma says, tucking his arms into the inside of his hoodie and twisting it the other way round, so that he’s facing his hood, which is filled with pebbles. “Could you take the pebbles out, Kuro.”

            At this point in time, Tetsurou doesn’t even want to question anything anymore, so he takes the pebbles out of Kenma’s hood and places them in a glass jar on his desk, which initially contained three 500 yen coins and a Hello Kitty eraser. When he turns to ask Kenma what the heck is happening, he finds himself under the mercy of one of his jackets as Kenma tugs it down on him.

            “I—Kenma?” he splutters, when his head gets free.

            “Get your motorcycle ready, Kuro. We’re going somewhere,” Kenma says, helping Tetsurou with the sleeves.

            “What? Where are we going?”

            “I don’t know.”

            “You don’t _know?_ ” Tetsurou asks, unbelieving, and Kenma grips both of Tetsurou’s arms.

            “I don’t know, and I don’t care. All I know is that I want to go with you.”

            Kenma smiles at him then, and Tetsurou finds himself short of breath, unable to look away, as if time had just stopped, in this exact moment.

            “So let’s go.”

 

The first time Tetsurou saw him, Tetsurou was playing with the other neighborhood kids around his age, their parents watching from the distance and chatting away. The kid had been sitting under a big tree, well away from the other kids, and well away from the painful natural phenomenon that was direct sunlight. His legs were crossed and a yellow bag was strapped onto his back like a protective barrier as he looked down on his red Gameboy Advance console, a Pokémon game inserted at the bottom. (Tetsurou actually wasn’t sure if it was Pokémon, but he assumed it was. Pokémon was all the rage, back then.)

            Tetsurou had never seen him before, so seeing him then was certainly a surprise, especially since Tetsurou prided himself on the fact that he knew every single kid in the neighborhood, even Daishou Suguru, the Evilest of all Evils.

            He was suddenly curious as to who this new boy was, and was suddenly curious as to where he came from and what he was doing and why he was doing it here. He was curious if anyone else could see him, or if it was just Tetsurou. Oh my gosh, what if he was an invisible boy with invisibility powers? How cool was that!

            He immediately bid the other kids a short goodbye, telling them he was going to check on something, to which they protested, but Tetsurou was already walking away and towards the black-haired boy. Tetsurou figured that if he wasn’t a boy with cool invisibility powers, then he must’ve been a boy who just moved in recently and didn’t know the area very well. Tetsurou also figured that, if that were the case, Tetsurou would have to be the one to introduce him to the area.

            His house would be the first thing he would introduce, of course. It was the most interesting place in the world! This new kid would have to meet his mom, his first love and first girlfriend. He hoped the new kid would be kind to her; she deserved kindness more than anyone.

            (She had told him one day, “Tetsurou, one day you’re going to find a wonderful girl to marry, and on that same day you’re going to leave me. I just want you to never forget me, even if she’s the most beautiful person in the world, alright?”

            (Tetsurou had, with a big pout on his face, replied, “But Mama, _you’re_ the most beautiful person in the first world.”

            (His mother had looked at him, then smiled and hugged him close. Tetsurou heard some sniffles, and he guessed that she was having her allergies again.

            (“Since you’re the most beautiful person in the world, Mama, does that mean you’re my girlfriend, too?” Tetsurou asked. His mother had laughed and hugged him tighter. Tetsurou felt something wet on his back, but he just guessed that he was just sweaty again. He had played a lot that day.

            (“Of course, sweetheart. Anything you want.”

            (Tetsurou had grinned, and said, “Since you’re my first girlfriend, Mama, I promise to never leave you. Never _ever_. I love you, Mama.”

            (Tetsurou thought he heard his mother sob, but that wouldn’t make sense, since she was the strongest person in the planet. And the prettiest.

            (“I love you, too, Tetsu. I love you, too.”)

            Tetsurou grinned as he reached the new kid, who just now noticed that there was someone who was standing in front of him. Tetsurou heard the faint sound of him pausing his game, and Tetsurou held his hand out.

            “My name’s Kuroo Tetsurou. What’s yours?”

 

The lights of the city are never a sight that Tetsurou chooses to ignore or think of as a nuisance. They’re a blinding array of blues and whites and reds and oranges, the complement to a kaleidoscope of laughter and the revving of engines and the sounds of a failed attempt at Dance Dance Revolution. The stars have long since disappeared beneath the artificial lights of the artificial city, but Tetsurou isn’t sure if he misses them that much.

            There’s a buzz in his blood, in his veins, as if he had stolen a pack of cigarettes from one of his classmates’ hidden stash under the stairway at school, and decided to take a long, long drag. Kenma’s arms are wrapped around Tetsurou’s waist as Tetsurou rides his motorcycle along the streets of the city, the blinding lights appearing stream-like in the corner of his eyes.

            He wonders about what Kenma is thinking about, right now, with his arms wrapped around Tetsurou’s waist and his head (helmet) leaning on the back of Tetsurou’s shoulders, quiet but not like his usual quiet. The silence that Kenma holds in his tiny body speaks volumes, like there’s a thought in his head he wants to scream out to the people around him, around them. Tetsurou wonders if he’s going to have to go through a night of Kenma yelling at the people around him, and with the way he’s been acting, Tetsurou doesn’t put it past him.

            He wonders if something happened to him. The Kenma he knows doesn’t collect pebbles on his neighbor’s lawn and decides to climb the nearest tree to his best friend’s room and throw said pebbles at the window. The Kenma he knows doesn’t tell Kuro that he woke up one night to a feeling, to a sudden urge to do something he doesn’t even know, as long as he did it with Kuro. The Kenma he knows doesn’t grab the nearest jacket he sees and wraps it around Tetsurou while he pulls him out his room and down the stairs and out the house. He doesn’t convince Tetsurou to take him on a ride on his motorcycle and drive him around and in the city, a strange light in his eyes, and an even stranger smile on his face.

            And yet the same Kenma who is now wrapping his arms around Tetsurou’s waist is the same Kenma who did all of that, minutes and minutes ago, and the same Tetsurou who is now riding his motorcycle in and around the city is the same Tetsurou who can’t believe he’s actually going with any of this. 

            Tetsurou feels a tap on his shoulder, and he sees Kenma’s hand on his right side, pointing at something in the distance.

            Tetsurou doesn’t check to see where Kenma was pointing; all he does is take a sharp turn to his right and trust that, while Kenma certainly isn’t acting the way he normally does, he isn’t set out to get them somewhere where either of them could get killed, at the very least.

            (He does, however, assume that Kenma is set out to get them somewhere close enough.)

            It’s only when Tetsurou parks his motorcycle by the sidewalk—which, by the way, is illegal, and again, Tetsurou can’t believe he’s going with any of this—that he takes a good long look at what looks to be a big introduction as to what they’re night is going to be like.

            Kenma had apparently pointed at the amusement park, the one that is currently being renovated and won’t open for another month. The front gate, where a couple of staff would be collecting entrance fees if the amusement park was still open, is closed and locked with a chain (which, in hindsight, is sort of useless). There’s a big sign to the side that reads _We are making this a better place. Please come back in 23 days_ , the ‘23’ being a separate set of cards that one could change to ’79,’ if seen fit. There is hardly any light in the amusement park, save for the couple of flashlights held by a couple of security guards who, by the looks of it, would rather be at home sleeping right now.

            Kenma is peering over the low metal fence, and Tetsurou has a feeling of what he’s going to do next.

            “Come on, let’s go. The guards are gone,” Kenma says, climbing over the front gate, but when Tetsurou holds a hand out to stop him, he stays still, in mid-climb, looking down at Tetsurou with a curious look. “Kuro?”

            “Kenma, are you alright?” Tetsurou asks, hands gripping Kenma’s arms, wondering what on earth is going on in that pretty little head of his.

            Kenma stares at Tetsurou for a moment, eyes staring at him, unblinking, as if processing the question.

            “I don’t know. But if you’re with me, I might be.” Kenma holds on to Tetsurou’s shoulders, making the metal clang with the way he shifts. “ _Are_ you with me?”

            Tetsurou holds his gaze longer than he deems normal, but at the moment, it seems as natural as the moon coming up, along with it the stars. He supposes that, at that moment, if logic is the one thing that holds him back from being with the one person he promised to be with forever, then he’ll just have to chuck it behind him and never look back.

            He climbs over the fence and lands down on the other side with a _thump_.

            “I’ve always been with you, Kenma. Don’t you dare doubt it for a second.”

            He looks back and grabs Kenma’s arm, walking over to the first booth he sees, making sure that there aren’t any guards to ruin what he expects to be the best night of his life.

            Or, more accurately, with the way things are going, Kenma’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Hello! Hi and hello, to everybody reading this. I have been absolutely e x c i t e d to post the last part of Broken Record because agckk this is the best one out of all three. Obviously, there is a DRASTIC difference between Healing Hearts and Broken Hearts + Lonely Hearts, not just in writing style but also in the number of words (in total, it's actually 9k+ words!!! woop, woop). I would like to thank tobuhayashi again for beta'ing this fic. You can again find her on ao3 (http://archiveofourown.org/users/tobuhayashi). GO READ HER TSUKKIYAMA GO GO LETS GO LETS GO DATEKOU
> 
> I'm a bit busy with voting for BTS on Twitter with the #BTSBBMAs so remind me to post every week! (And, like, go vote for them as well, if ya want) 
> 
> But anyway, thank you for reading this chapter of The Healing Hearts' Demo, and I hope I can see you again next week for Track Two!
> 
> (Please comment ppls this chipmunk needs love *flops down on the floor with the grace of a whale on land*)


	3. Track Two - Long Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **"Could end in burning flames or paradise." _Taylor Swift, Style_**

Tetsurou was a bit offended, if he was being honest, that the new boy didn’t answer him immediately. All he did was stare at Tetsurou with those big eyes, unblinking, hands clutching his game console. Up close, Tetsurou could now see that his hair was slightly longer than a normal boy’s hair. In fact, he had what Tetsurou called Girl Hairstyle Number Two (Girl Hairstyle Number One was pigtails, and Girl Hairstyle Number Three was really long hair. Like _really_ long), which made Tetsurou wonder if the new boy was actually a new girl. Or maybe he was just like his uncle, who liked to grow out his hair into Girl Hairstyle Number Three. Either way, Tetsurou would still be offended.

            The boy (girl?) still stared at him, and Tetsurou waited for a response. He learned at school that when someone says hello, the other should also say hello, but no one ever said exactly _when_ the other person was supposed to say hello, so he just assumed that maybe this newcomer liked taking his time.

            “… Are you talking to me?” the new kid finally asked, voice really soft and quiet. If the other kids were there, screaming and squealing as they played, Tetsurou wouldn’t have been able to hear it.

            “Of course, I’m talking to you!” Tetsurou huffed, still holding his hand out, almost pointedly. “No one else is here.”

            The kid looked down at Tetsurou’s open palm, then back at Tetsurou’s face. Tetsurou just noticed that his eyes were very big and very pretty, not as pretty as his mother’s but still pretty. They looked like a cat’s.

            “… I guess you’re right,” he finally said, voice still soft.

            Tetsurou beamed. “I’m always right! Hanako-sensei says I’m very bright and smart.” He still had his hand up.

            “Ah… that’s nice.” The kid looked down, on the grass. He started fumbling with his game console. “Um… why are you here?”

            “Why? I came here to introduce myself. And you still haven’t told me your name,” Tetsurou remembered, and put his hand directly in front of the kid’s face.

            “But no one likes to talk to me,” the kid said, shoulders slumping. “They say I’m weird, and that I’m no fun.”

            “What! That’s so mean,” Tetsurou said, settling down in front of the kid, hand still out because he was nothing if he wasn’t persistent. “You seem like plenty of fun. And your eyes are really pretty.”

            The kid jerked his head up to face Tetsurou’s, eyes wide in surprise, and Tetsurou grinned. He shook his hand in front of the kid.

            “I’ll start again: My name’s Kuroo Tetsurou. What’s yours?”

            The kid hesitated for a moment, but eventually held Tetsurou’s hand gingerly.

            “Kozume… Kenma,” he said, and Tetsurou shook his hand so hard he thought it would come off. “Ow.”

            “So your name’s Kenma? That’s such a pretty name!” Tetsurou marveled. Kenma looked back down, but kept glancing up every now and then. “Ah, sorry, can I call you that?”

            “Um, okay…” Kenma muttered.

            Tetsurou grinned. “So, Kenma, are you new here? I could show you around.”

            “Not really. I always lived here.”

            Tetsurou’s bottom lip went out with a pout. Aw, he really wanted to show him around the neighborhood. But then he remembered—

            “Hey!” Tetsurou exclaimed, earning a surprised look from Kenma. “Have you ever met my mom? She’s the sweetest and the most beautiful person in the world. I could introduce you to her; you’ll love her!”

            “Um… I don’t really…”

            But Tetsurou was already pulling Kenma up from the hill, and down.

            “Come on! I bet she’ll be really happy when she meets you. I’m gonna tell her I made a new friend—Come on, Kenma! Let’s go!”

 

It’s eerily quiet in the amusement park, although Tetsurou probably should’ve guessed it would be, considering it’s nearing midnight and the only other people he’s with is Kenma and two security guards.

            He remembers how it looked like a few months back: There was always a long line of parents and their children, couples on their first dates, and the occasional group of friends who have never been there before. The amusement park had a red, blue, and white color scheme, all happy hues and long queues and amazing views. It had everything an amusement park had: rollercoasters, haunted houses, the rotating cups (Tetsurou had thrown up, once. Bokuto had laughed at him, clapping his back and making him throw up more. Akaashi was watching them at the sidelines, telling them to stop being a big pair of idiots. Kenma was next to him, having brought a PSP with him to ‘pass the time’—which was total bullshit, by the way. But Tetsurou didn’t care much about it. Kenma put it away when he patted Tetsurou’s back in the public restroom when they finished. He didn’t bring it out after that), and rows and rows of food and mini-game stalls. Right now, everything’s just a dark mass of shapes and eerie silence, which could’ve been scary if he couldn’t see Kenma walking a few paces ahead of Tetsurou, looking around him like he could see everything.

            Kenma suddenly stops, head facing one of the mini-game stalls, and Tetsurou turns to see that it’s the water gun one. The one where a player has to shoot targets that appear randomly, and the amount of targets hit determines what prize one gets. Tetsurou had won plenty of times on that thing—there was even a time when he was able to get Kenma this big-ass Snorlax when Tetsurou was a freshman and Kenma was in his last year of middle school. Tetsurou had found Kenma crying in his house when he came to visit, and found out that the younger had forgotten that Kuro was in a different school and was looking for him everywhere. Tetsurou had pulled him out of the house that day, promising to make him happy and winning him that Snorlax he always wanted. Kenma smiled that day.

            Kenma walks over to the stall, climbing over the front and disappearing below the counter. Tetsurou follows him and leans on the counter with his elbows, trying to get a view of Kenma’s undyed roots.

            “What are you doing over there, Kitten?” Tetsurou casually asks, glancing to the side to check if the guards are anywhere near. They may be incompetent, but you never know.

             “Looking, Kuro,” Kenma simply answers, his voice barely audible.

            “For what?”

            And suddenly something fluffy is being pushed into Tetsurou’s face, making him stumble and almost falling on his butt.

            When Tetsurou grabs and pulls whatever it is off his face, he sees that it’s a plush toy of a Wailord, the biggest prize one can ever win at this stall. It’s twice as big as Tetsurou’s head, one and a half times as big as his hair, its face staring at him like he knew his secrets. (Not that he had much, but still. The Wailord knows all.)

            He pulls it down and sees Kenma looking at him, a gleam in his eyes and a smile on his face.

            “Looks like we won’t have to play to win anymore,” he says, still smiling.

            “I’ve always wanted a Wailord,” Tetsurou says, more to have something to say than to actually mean what he says. “But don’t they keep these things in the main storage, or something? What kind of amusement park keeps their prizes outside?”

            Kenma shrugs. “Maybe the manager likes to live on edge.”

            That earns a small chuckle from Tetsurou. This new Kenma is really something.

            “Ah, seriously, Kenma. You sure nothing happened to you? Where’s Mister ‘I-Don’t-Want-To-Leave-The-House’? Did he leave me?”

            Kenma smiles. “He’s still here, Kuro. He never left.”

            Tetsurou stalls for a moment, wondering what that meant.

            “Hey, Kenma,” he starts, “what’s the real reason why you’re acting like this?”

            Kenma leans over the counter, face close to Tetsurou’s, though he isn’t sure if Kenma is aware of it or is just doing it on purpose. His best friend tilts his head, the same smile playing on his lips.

            “I told you, Kuro. I wanted to go somewhere, and I wanted to go there with you,” he says.

            “That can’t be it.”

            “Who says it can’t?”

            He’s so close. Close enough to kiss, if Tetsurou held any feelings for him. He didn’t, he doesn’t, but maybe that’s what’s making this so difficult.

            “Hey! You! What are you doing here?”

            The two of them break apart to see one of the security guards running towards them from a distance, waving his flashlight like crazy. He would’ve been intimidating and scary if his pants weren’t falling down to his ankles as he tried hard to pull them up. Tetsurou hears Kenma snort, and he turns to him, grinning.

            “Wanna pretend he’s a threat and run out of here?” Tetsurou suggests, and Kenma grins back.

            “Definitely.”

            Kenma climbs out of the stall and into Tetsurou’s arms, grabbing the Wailord from the counter. Tetsurou doesn’t look back as he runs on his way out of the amusement park, carrying Kenma bridal-style with the Wailord hanging from his arm.

            “Hurry up, Kuro!” Kenma yells into his ear. “Before he trips over his pants and makes a fool of himself in front of us!”

            Tetsurou laughs, loud and clear. There’s a feeling in his chest, adrenaline running through his veins as he carries Kenma, running over to the front gate as if he’d never doubted anything in the first place.

            “You’re crazy, Kenma! Absolutely crazy!” he yells.

            “What, like you can’t handle a little bit of crazy for one night?” Kenma yells back.

            If tonight is going to go the way it is now, then maybe Tetsurou _could_ handle a little bit of crazy.

 

“Kuroo— _Kuroo, wait—_ ” Kenma called behind him, and Tetsurou turned around to see his new friend looking like he was about to faint from exhaustion.

            He immediately stopped to let Kenma catch his breath, which he did, almost hanging on to Tetsurou as he controlled his breathing.

            “Sorry, Kenma,” Tetsurou apologized, suddenly feeling very guilty. “Are you okay?”

            Kenma nodded, a little. He looked at Tetsurou, eyes wide.

            “I—I’ve never run so much before,” he said.

            “What? But running’s so much fun!” Tetsurou exclaimed. “It makes you feel really happy, and the wind makes it really cool, and you can even put your arms out in your back like Naruto! Look!”

            Tetsurou readied his stance—legs bent and arms stretched behind him—and started running around Kenma, imagining himself in a dark and green forest, countless ninjas hiding behind every tree. But Tetsurou saw through all of their masks and camouflage, and knew where every single one of them stood.

            Suddenly, he heard a giggle and he turned his head to see Kenma looking at him, a pair of hands covering his face as he laughed and laughed and laughed. Tetsurou found his laugh to be absolutely beautiful, and he continued running around Kenma, even when he felt his head go a little dizzy, because that was the most beautiful laugh he had heard in ages. His mother’s used to hold that title, but Tetsurou hadn’t been hearing it a lot, recently. Maybe, just maybe, if his mother heard Kenma’s laugh, she’d be able to laugh again, soon.

            “Tetsu, dear, can you slow down a bit? You’re going to get dizzy.”

            Tetsurou stopped in his tracks to see his mother, the most beautiful woman in the world, looking down at him with a small smile on her face.

            Tetsurou’s lips immediately transformed into a big grin. “Mama—”

            And suddenly, his words were lost in the ground as he dropped face-first, the dizziness overwhelming his tiny child body.

            “Tetsu!” his mother exclaimed in panic, running over and sitting her son up gently and wiping the dirt off his face. “Tetsu, darling, are you okay?”        

            “Of course, Mama!” Tetsurou replied, a big grin on his face, although now there were two Mamas looking at him in concern. “I’m a big boy now! I’m brave and strong!”

            Mama smiled at him, cupping his face and wiping off the last bits carefully.

            “Oh, I’m sure you are. That was very brave of you, dear,” she said, making Tetsurou giggle.

            “Thank you, Mama,” he said. Suddenly, he remembered something. “Oh! Mama, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

            He searched around, thinking that maybe Kenma moved far away, but the boy was just standing next to the two of them, hands clasped behind him and his shoulders slumped. He was glancing back and forth between Tetsurou and everywhere else.

            Tetsurou gently pulled his mother’s hands from his face before running over to Kenma and grabbing his hand, pulling him towards her.

            “This is Kenma, Mama! Kozume Kenma!” Tetsurou introduced, a big smile on his face. He turned to Kenma, who was now looking at his shoes. “Kenma, this is my Mama. Say hello!”

            Kenma glanced up at Tetsurou’s mother, before quickly looking back down at the ground.

            “H-hello, Mrs. Kuroo,” he timidly greeted, fidgeting.

            “It’s nice to meet you, Kozume-kun,” Tetsurou’s mother greeted, smiling at him. She was now crouched down to see Kenma a bit better. “How are you?”

            “Um… tired,” Kenma answered, still not looking at her.

            “Are your parents here?” she asked.

            At that, Kenma looked even _further_ down.

            “No… They work overseas…,” he said. “My grandma is at home. She’s gonna get me at three.”

            “Oh, well I’m sure she’s wonderful,” Tetsurou’s mother said, smiling. “Tell me, what were you and little Tetsu here doing before I came?” At ‘little Tetsu,’ she ruffled her son’s messy hair, making it even messier than usual. He giggled.

            “He was showing me how to run like Naruto…” Kenma answered, now looking up at Tetsurou’s mother.

            “Yeah!” Tetsurou exclaimed, waving his hands up. “I was running everywhere, and then there were these ninjas, and I defeated them all!”

            “Oh, really?” Tetsurou’s mother asked, interested.

            “Yep! But it wasn’t real, Mama. It was _just_ pretend,” he explained, making sure his mother didn’t get the wrong idea.

            She smiled at him. “Oh, of course, Tetsu. Thank you for letting me know.”

            “You’re welcome, Mama! Oh, but you should talk to Kenma, now. I wanted him to know you!”

            Kenma looked up at that. “Um, my teacher says I’m not good at talking…”

            “What? No way!” Tetsurou exclaimed, now turning to Kenma. “You’re plenty good at talking! And you have really pretty eyes, too! And you have the most beautiful laugh in the world!”

            Kenma’s face started turning red at every word Tetsurou said, which made him wonder if he was feeling all right. His mother usually only got really red when she was sick, or angry. Tetsurou wouldn’t want Kenma to be either.

            Tetsurou heard his mother let out a chuckle, and he turned to her, eyes wide with awe. She laughed! Tetsurou was never going to let Kenma out of his sight now. He must have been magic, or better.

            “Well, I’m sure we can continue this conversation over a nice lunch. Do you want to join us, Kozume-kun?” she asked, smiling at him.

            Kenma hesitated for a moment, and all Tetsurou could think was _Please say yes please say yes please please pleeease._

            “… Okay,” he answered, and Tetsurou almost tackled him to the ground trying to hug him as tight as he could, as tight as he hugged his mother, maybe even tighter.

            If Kenma was magic, then Tetsurou was going to do everything he could to find his magic wand, if it meant seeing the smile on his mother’s face more often, and if it meant hearing Kenma’s beautiful laugh play in his ears all over again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dont know if any of y'all have noticed this but the paragraphs are pretty long, so I recommend reading this fic in landscape form, so you guys dont get overwhelmed with the plethora of lines. Anyway, carry on.


	4. Track Three - Take Me Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **"I can keep a secret. Can you?" _Demi Lovato, Cool for the Summer_**

Tetsurou isn’t sure if ‘love’ is the word that could describe the way he feels about Kenma. He’s pretty damn sure that he’s never had a crush on him, never had that heart-wrenching moment when it feels like he’s about to suffocate, or faint. He’s never felt his heart beat faster whenever Kenma held his hand or leaned on him when they were alone. He’s never had the urge to kiss him, or call him ‘sweetheart,’ or do whatever his mother used to do with his father when they used to be together. He’s never had that image of him waking up in his bedroom, the lights of early morning coming through the windows as he smiles at the man next to him, happy to be able to see him every single day. No, Tetsurou was not in love with Kenma.

            But he also knows that that definition of ‘love’ is only half of what it really is. He knows that love isn’t just a feeling, that it’s also commitment and a promise meant to be kept, not just for one moment in time, but for every moment in every day. Love isn’t just caring about the other person; it’s _wanting_ to care about that other person. It’s about _wanting_ to keep being with them, about _wanting_ to spend every day with them to help them in their best times, and in their worst. It’s about making sure that they eat their vegetables and making sure that they take a bath at least once every two days. It’s about being there when they’re sad and still being there when they’re done being sad. It’s about saying sorry when you’ve done something wrong, and accepting if they can’t forgive you right away. It’s about trying to find ways to make living easier while holding their hand. About wanting to make things work. This second definition of love never said anything about feeling your heart beating and feeling the rush of blood come up in your cheeks.

            Tetsurou is not in love with Kenma, but it’s that second definition of love that Tetsurou can use to describe what he feels for him. It’s that second definition that makes him wonder.

            After the two of them drove off and away from the amusement park, Kenma took a long time in choosing where they would go next, the Wailord still being clutched by the younger. Tetsurou’s pretty sure that he could direct some tourists to the most popular places in the city, with the knowledge he garnered as he drove in silence. But eventually, Kenma decided on one of the open-twenty-four-seven fast food places, which Tetsurou didn’t question. (Besides, now he could finally park his motorcycle without thinking he would get arrested, so he didn’t really try to complain much.)

            There’s practically no one in the fast food place right now: just a balding man in the corner with his half-eaten burger, a couple of teenagers looking like they could also be having the night of their lives, and the cashier who is the embodiment of the sentence _Get me out of here._ Tetsurou stops in front of the counter—and by association, Emi the Cashier—and scans the overhead menu.

            “I want that one,” Kenma says, pointing at a dessert in the upright corner.

            “That one?” Tetsurou asks. Kenma nods. “But you hate that one.”

            “I want it,” Kenma insists, clutching onto his arm tighter. Tetsurou sighs. He relays the order to Emi, who punches in the order without a word. Tetsurou doesn’t blame her.

            “Anything else you want, Kitten?” Tetsurou asks, using the name that Kenma hates.

            Kenma hardly gives it any attention. “I want that one, that one, that one. And that one.”

            “Are you trying to get me broke?”

            “Kuro, everyone knows that you never use any of the allowance your mom gives you, other than for transportation.”

            “Unfortunately.”

            Eventually, Kenma leaves the counter to go sit by the window after Tetsurou pays (thank God that he brought his wallet with him), leaving Tetsurou to stand by the counter as Emi goes over to prepare their order.

            “Do you always work the night shift?” he asks, more to lessen the awkward silence.

            “Do you always have such bad hair?” she deadpans, coming over with a tray.

            “It’s not that bad.”

            “It is.”

            “It is,” Kenma echoes, from behind him.

            Tetsurou just walks over to the table and lays their food out on it, pretending his ego is still intact. Kenma had chosen the most random set of fast food: a chocolate-flavored steam bun which resembled the face of a panda, an extra small pack of French fries flavored with artificial sour-and-cream flavoring, an extra large cup of green tea-flavored ice cream shake (which Kenma hates), a banana split, and a small brown bag of marshmallows.

            (Actually, now that Tetsurou thinks about it, how does a fast food restaurant even have all of this in their regular menu?)

            “Any idea on where we could go next?” Tetsurou asks, his knuckles pushing up to his cheeks as he leaned on the table.

            “Nope,” Kenma says before he takes a big sip on the green tea shake and promptly almost chokes on it. “Ew.”

            “You want me to finish it for you?” Tetsurou asks, his hand reaching out to get it, but Kenma only gently declines the offer with a loud slap to the hand. “Ow.”

            “No, I want to finish it,” he answers, sipping again without much of a reaction. Although, he is scowling. He reaches over to the fries and starts dipping them in the green tea (ew) before popping them in his mouth.

            Tetsurou watches Kenma as he eats, again thinking if something happened. Kenma’s never been the rebellious type (neither is Tetsurou, but he kinda gives off that vibe, you know?), much less the goes-outside-in-broad-daylight type, so the fact that Tetsurou’s with him at a whacky fast food restaurant with weird menu choices at a little past midnight after breaking in (well, actually, it wasn’t much of a ‘break in’ as it was a ‘jump in’) to an amusement park is really something to be worried about, and no one could blame him for being so.

            Just yesterday, Kenma was lazying in his living room with his beloved PSP high up in the air as he played Monster Hunter for the third repeat. Tetsurou had visited him—well, actually he just walked with Kenma to his house after school—so he could tutor him for an exam he’s going to have next week. Kenma neither likes nor dislikes studying (neither likes nor dislikes anything really, except maybe human interaction), but he’s incredibly smart. Tetsurou guesses that if he was as much of an academic nerd as he was, Kenma would be one of the top students. But alas, Kenma prefers to play with his PSP as Tetsurou recites the attributes of the elements of the periodic table.

            There was nothing odd about him, at the time. Just his usual stoic, quiet, and always-tired-because-he-stayed-up-playing-games Kenma. Tetsurou is trying to think of anything that would give a hint as to why Kenma suddenly decided to go crazy, but there really isn’t.

            Kenma looks up at Tetsurou then, and his cat eyes are questioning. Or rather, observing him. He’s about half-way through with his green tea shake (how) and steam bun, the black-ish specks on the corner of his mouth being proof of that. He had mixed in the banana split and the marshmallows in the shake (that’s how).

            Tetsurou grabs a napkin from the holder and reaches over to wipe Kenma’s face, the latter’s eyes still on him.

            “Kuro,” he says.

            “Yeah?”

            “Kuro,” he says again.

            “Yeah.”

            Kenma tilts his head a bit, all the chocolate gone.

            “Tetsu.”

            Tetsurou blinks. Once. Twice.

            “Yeah.”

            Suddenly, a group of people walk in the restaurant, cutting through the silence with their loud voices. Tetsurou sees Emi sending a silent prayer to the gods upon their entrance.

            “God, that surprised me,” Tetsurou mutters to himself, a hand on his heart. He hears the sound of a chair being dragged on the floor, and turns to see Kenma standing up from where was seated, downing the last drops of his green tea shake. “Kenma?”

            “Come on, Kuro. I know where we’re going next,” he answers, shoving the steam bun in his mouth and showing the rest of the fries in Tetsurou’s.

            “Uh…” Tetsurou says, some of the fries still un-swallowed in his mouth as Kenma leads him outside the fast food joint. The noisy group lets out a big laugh in the corner. “Where exactly are we going?”

            Kenma turns back to look at Tetsurou, and there’s that smile again.

            “We’re going flying.”

 

Kenma started calling him ‘Kuro’ during his fifth year and Tetsurou’s sixth.

            Tetsurou had only just found out about his father, the original nuance of him just working overseas being burned to ashes. He had woken up two hours earlier than usual because of a nightmare. He had wanted to wake his mother up and tell her about it—no, he wasn’t one of those embarrassed-by-their-parents kind of kids because he loved his mother to no end; what was the point of making other people believe otherwise?—but instead, he had caught her on the phone with one of her friends. Crying. Saying, “I’m sorry, Maiko. I’m sorry. It just gets to me sometimes. How could he just leave us… Our own son… I can’t tell him, Maiko. I know he’s old enough to know, but… I can’t. He loves his father, Mai. I can’t do that to him. I just can’t.”

            And Tetsurou had run back to his room, trying to make the conversation go away and trying to forget everything.

            Tetsurou hated him, honestly. And maybe he was a bit angry at his own mother for not telling him sooner, because he was twelve and he was smart and he could’ve handled it, but he couldn’t bring himself to bring it out on her. His mother loved him like he was the world, and what kind of mother would tell her son that his father was a traitor?

            “So you’re not going to tell her that you found out?” Kenma asked, eyes on his brand new PSP and thumbs pressing down on the buttons rapidly as he tried to defeat Azura with his Lily.

            Tetsurou sighed, an arm over his eyes as the two of them lay in the middle of Kenma’s living room. He was thankful for Kenma’s grandmother for letting Kenma see him almost every day. She was wonderful, but she was also very strict. Luckily, Tetsurou had never been in the receiving end of The Stare. Not yet, anyway.

            “I don’t know…” Tetsurou answered, sighing again. “She might cry if I told her. She didn’t want me know so she could protect me, or something.”

            “So you’re just going to pretend that you still believe your father is working in America?” Kenma asked, and from the sounds coming from his PSP, Tetsurou guessed he was already on the next round.

            “Agh, I don’t know!” Tetsurou said, flipping on his stomach. “Ugh, he’s such a jerk. How could he do that to her? She’s so wonderful and amazing—how could he just let that go? How could he leave her? I can’t imagine what she must’ve felt like. It sounds like one of those novels that Bokuto likes to read.”

            “You’ve always been defensive about your first girlfriend.”

            Tetsurou shot up at that, cheeks burning. “I was seven, Kenma. _Seven._ It was completely acceptable at the time.”

            “Whatever you say, Kuro.”

            Tetsurou blinked. Once. Twice.

            “ ‘Kuroo’? What happened to ‘Tetsu’?” he asked, eyes furrowed.

            Kenma furrowed his eyebrows back, an indirect glare that would have been sent to Tetsurou if he wasn’t so immersed in his game.

            “Not ‘Kuroo,’ _Kuro_.”

            “Like… the color?”

            “Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

            Tetsurou stared at Kenma, at the way his cheeks suddenly burned a bright red, and he grinned.

            “You want to play volleyball with me, Kenma?” he asked, already standing up.

            His best friend groaned out loud, either from the fact that, based on the sounds coming from his PSP, he just lost his round or because Tetsurou just asked him to do an activity that involved moving. Maybe both. It was probably both.

            “I’m not even good at it,” Kenma complained, but he was already putting his PSP down and he was already putting his hands up so Tetsurou could pull him up. Tetsurou did.

            “Don’t be like that, Kenma! You’re plenty good. You could even be a setter,” Tetsurou said, picking up his volleyball and pulling Kenma out to their backyard.

            “I’d rather be sleeping, to be honest, Kuro,” Kenma said, and Tetsurou looked over, a grin playing on his face.

            “But you aren’t.”

            Kenma stared at him for a few moments, before sighing and giving in.

            “Okay, but please don’t cry while we’re playing. I know you’ve been trying to hold it back since you got here.”

            Tetsurou stared at him for a few moments, before smiling again. Sometimes, he forgot about how much Kenma knew him so well.

            “Fine, but no promises. You know I don’t do those.”

            “Sure, Kuro. Whatever you say.”

 

“I’m gonna die. We’re gonna die. The entire country is gonna die,” Kenma was saying, holding on to Tetsurou like his life depended on it.

            When Kenma told Tetsurou they were going to go ‘flying,’ Tetsurou didn’t realize ‘flying’ meant ‘going on the highest floor of the tallest tower in all of Tokyo.’

            “It’s just glass, Kenma,” Tetsurou says, looking down on the transparent floor as he sees the entire city in front of him, as if there isn’t anything holding them up.

            It’s honestly a breathtaking sight, but Kenma looks like he’s about to throw up all of that fast food with the way he’s shaking uncontrollably. Tetsurou swears his arm is about to rip off.

            “Glass is a portal to imminent death,” Kenma answers, and Tetsurou chuckles.

            He turns his attention to the sight before him: The entire city is lit up in that array of orange, white, and blue. The night sky is as dark as ever, not a single star to be seen. The moon is a crescent tonight, and Tetsurou wishes it were a half-moon. Kenma loves those. Kenma has the habit of looking out of his room window every time a half-moon is set to appear, even going so far as to mark on his calendar the nights of the moon’s first and third quarters. Kenma always sends Tetsurou a picture, and Tetsurou is always there to see it.

            But the moon is a crescent tonight, and all he sees are the various buildings that spread across the entire city, as if the city was an overgrown forest of trees made of steel, glass, and other fixtures. As if the lights that emanate from the building windows are flowers that only glow up at night and disappear as soon as daylight breaks. As if the roads that are filled with smoke and headlights are rivers and streams that flow constantly from one source. As if Tetsurou even knows what a forest looks like.

            He wonders if he’s ever going to have another night like this, another night where he’ll be looking down at the city he’s been living in for the longest time, at the city he himself doesn’t even know that well yet. If he’s ever going to have the feeling of adrenaline run in his veins again.

            He wonders what he’ll be doing next time. He wonders what he’ll be doing if he was there again.

            He turns to the shaking boy next to him, and wonders if he’s going to be there, too.

            He wonders if he’ll still go if the boy won’t.

            He looks back on it now, and realizes that there has never been a day when Kenma wasn’t there with him, ever since he approached him on that day on the hill. He realizes that Kenma had been there, always, even when he said he was too tired to join Tetsurou on his daily expedition to the sandbox, even when he said he wasn’t good at volleyball, even when he said he couldn’t do it anymore. Kenma was there. Kenma is here.

            Kenma is a constant. Tetsurou isn’t.

            He wonders what his days would be like if Kenma never existed.

            “Why did you even decide to go here?” Tetsurou asks, turning his attention back to his best friend. Kenma is here. “You’re afraid of heights.”

            “Then why live if you’re going to die anyway?”

            “Kenma, you were literally whining about dying earlier.”

            Kenma says nothing and just holds Tetsurou still, taking small steps on his way to the glass walls. Suddenly, Tetsurou gets an idea and grins. Without warning, he jumps on the glass, making Kenma shriek.

            “No, don’t! Stopstopstop, _Tetsu!_ ” Kenma whines, and Tetsurou does stop, but only because he’s surprised at the reappearance of his old nickname.

            “ ‘Tetsu’? What happened to ‘Kuro’? ” Tetsurou asks, and Kenma looks up at him, the fear in his eyes momentarily gone.

            “The same thing that happened to ‘Tetsu,’ Tetsu,” he answers, leaving Tetsurou to stare at him for the umpteenth time that night. There’s that look on him again, the one that Tetsurou can’t read. The one that Tetsurou had never seen before now.

             But it leaves as soon as Kenma looks back down on the glass floor, and the fear in his eyes is back. Tetsurou gets another idea, one that makes him grin so obviously that Kenma notices, and “Tetsu—”

            He immediately jumps away from Kenma, making the latter stand by himself in the middle of the room, eyes widened in horror.

            “ _Tetsu!_ ” Kenma shrieks, earning many looks ranging from curious to scared.

            Tetsurou can’t help it; he laughs and laughs and laughs, because the look on Kenma’s face is priceless.

            “Tetsu, this isn’t funny!” Kenma yells, waving his hands like crazy. “Come back here! I swear to God, Tetsu—”

            “I know, I know,” Tetsurou says, after calming down, though he is still smiling. “I’m sorry, Kitten.”

            He moves forward—

            Kenma promptly runs into him, making the both of them fall on the glass.

            “Ow,” is the first thing Tetsurou says. There’s a sharp pain on the back of his head, and he can’t move from his position on the floor. He looks up to see Kenma looking down on him, his dyed locks falling to the side, shaping his face. He’s grinning triumphantly, and Tetsurou finds himself at a loss for words.

            “Got you,” Kenma says, and there’s mischief in his expression, a playful glint in his eyes, and Tetsurou figures he’ll let himself get played.

            “You got me,” Tetsurou breathes.

            Two minutes later, a guard comes over to ask the both of them to leave, and Tetsurou wonders what he would’ve done if the guard hadn’t interrupted them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saiku back at it again with the long ass paras
> 
> Also pls comment!! Comments are practically my salary at this point. They always make my day, and make me want to continue writing. Feedback is very important to a writer, not just me but to every creator, so dont hesitate to comment! 
> 
> Have a great day, and I hope to see you next week ^^
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> On a side note: Did anyone get that bts reference


	5. Track Four - Look At Me Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **"You're burning me." _BLACKPINK, Playing with Fire_**

“You won’t leave me, right?”

            Tetsurou looked at the boy next to him, the comforter covering the both of them as they lay side-by-side on Tetsurou’s bed, Kenma having gone to visit the older on one of their regular sleepovers. Kenma wasn’t looking at Tetsurou, but his arm was half-stretched out and his palm was open, a sign that he wanted it held. Tetsurou did.

            “It’s just high school, Kenma. It’s not like I’m moving anywhere far,” Tetsurou said.

            “It feels like it,” Kenma muttered, his eyebrows furrowed. He tightened his grip on Tetsurou’s hand.

            “We can still visit each other at the end of the day. I’m not gonna stop being your best friend.”

            “But it’s different, this time. We went to the same elementary, and the same middle school, but you’re going to a different high school. You won’t be there with me. I won’t be there with you. I don’t…” Kenma looked down, and Tetsurou wondered when was the last time Kenma ever spoken this much.

            “I don’t like it, Kuro,” he whispered.

            Tetsurou stared at Kenma for a moment, staring at Kenma being the one thing he had always found himself doing, over the past years. He stared at his long, black hair and the way it would also fall to cover his eyes. He stared at the furrow in Kenma’s eyebrows, and the way he would look down so he wouldn’t have to face whatever was in front of him. He stared at the way his hands shook as he held onto Tetsurou’s palm like he had never held his hand before. He stared at Kenma’s pretty eyes and wondered how they still looked pretty even when tears appeared to try to block it from view.

            Tetsurou reached and arm out and pulled Kenma closer to him, resting his chin on the top of his best friend’s head, and rubbing circles on his back.

            For a moment, they just lay there, with Tetsurou hugging Kenma, and Kenma holding on to the front of Tetsurou’s shirt.

            “You won’t leave me, right, Kuro?” Kenma asked, after a while, his voice just barely audible.

            “Never,” Tetsurou answered, hugging Kenma tighter. “I’m not leaving you, ever. I’ve been with you from the start, Kenma. I promise I’ll be with you until the end.”

            “Promise that you’ll keep your promise?”

            “I promise that I’ll keep my promise.”

 

Tetsurou isn’t sure what time it is right now. He had brought everything with him when Kenma pulled him out of his room: his jacket, his wallet, his motorcycle keys, pepper spray, and logic. (He had thrown that last one out of the window, but at least he had brought it with him, at first.) But the one thing that he had forgotten to bring was his phone, and, looking back on it, he probably should have brought that with him, first and foremost.

            The two of them are in one of the many children’s playgrounds that spread across the prefecture. Tetsurou has never been to any of these, not even when he was a child. He was always either at the neighborhood playground, playing with the other kids his age, or at home with Kenma.

            Tetsurou’s motorcycle is parked illegally by the sidewalk again, but at this point in time, he really couldn’t care less. (Wow, where did this rebellious phase come from?)

            Kenma is sitting on one of the swings, swaying back and forth with as much force as a fly. He’s holding on the chains that tie the seat to the top of the swing with both of his hands, and his eyes are on the floor, as if he had just found something interesting to see on concrete ground at night, when the both of them practically blind. This part of the city is one of the ones rarely lit at night, with not that many buildings to provide any source of light. It’s one of the less busy parts of the city, and one of the most quiet.

            Tetsurou is leaning on one of the poles of the swing, eyes staring at Kenma, and the way his feet never leave the ground as he swings back and forth. The tips of his shoes graze the ground a little more than slightly, and it’s the first time Kenma’s been quiet this night.

            “So…” Tetsurou starts, and he kind of hates the way he sounds like his mother when she’s trying to get Tetsurou to spill his secrets. (She’s part of the reason why he doesn’t have any, in the first place.) “Are you gonna tell me the real reason why you went crazy?”

            “I told you, Tetsu,” Kenma answers, his eyes still on the ground. “I wanted to go somewhere, and I wanted—”

            “—to go there with me, I know,” Tetsurou finishes for him, a sigh leaving his lips. “Just thought you’d give a different answer this time around.”

            A pause.

            “Why ‘with me’?” Tetsurou asks, crossing his arms. “Why did you want to go with _me?_ ”

            Kenma looks up at him, and Tetsurou can make out the vague shape of a glare.

            “Can you see me doing all of this with _Lev?_ ” he asks, and Tetsurou snorts.

            “ _That_ would be something I’d watch,” Tetsurou says, chuckling.

            “You were just the first person I thought of,” Kenma says, turning back to the ground.

            “Was I?”

            “Yes.”

            Tetsurou leans back onto the pole, and Kenma resumes his back-and-forth sway. Tetsurou looks up, and the sight before him makes his eyes widen.

            The night sky is filled with thousands upon thousands of stars, all twinkling in their own rhythm, in a pattern only they could keep with. The lights of the city have reduced them to just white dots on a black canvas, erasing the purple and pink clouds that are supposed to be there, but Tetsurou thinks they’re still beautiful. He wonders, yet again, if he’s ever seen the stars as they are right now, bright and different and real.

            He feels movement next to him, and hears the sudden clanging of chains, and he turns to see Kenma jumping on the swing, the seat swaying dangerously.

            “ _Kenma!_ ” Tetsurou almost-yells, reaching out an arm to steady him, but Kenma’s already leaning forward and grabbing Tetsurou’s shoulders, leaning their foreheads together.

            For a while, they stare at each other, Tetsurou’s arms gripping Kenma’s sides to keep him steady on the swing, and Kenma looking down at Tetsurou with all the stars in the universe in his pretty eyes.

            “Tetsu, if I told you I liked you, would you believe me?” Kenma asks, voice down to a whisper.

            “I don’t think…” Tetsurou starts, at a loss for words. “I don’t think believing is the problem here.”

            Kenma stares at him, and suddenly, he’s leaning forward, putting their faces close—

            —before he pushes Tetsurou away from him and takes off running in the other direction.

            Tetsurou is dumbfounded, staring at Kenma’s running figure as he stays half-lying on the ground.

            But then there’s a smile creeping up his face, and suddenly he’s picking himself off the ground, and suddenly, he’s chasing Kenma, not caring where they’re headed, not caring where they go.

 

Kenma was crying. He was crying and Tetsurou was holding onto him as if he would go away if he didn’t.

            “I thought—I forgot—I looked for you e-everywhere—You weren’t—weren’t there, and—I thought—I forgot—I—Kuro—”

            “I promised you, didn’t I? I promised you I’d never leave you.”

            “K-Kuro—”

            “I made a promise, Kenma. I’m not leaving you. Not now. Not ever."


	6. Track Five - The Headlights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **"We'll be running again." _Halsey, Roman Holiday_**

Tetsurou finally catches up to him, after Tetsurou chased him across the streets of Tokyo, after he almost pushed a poor lady out of the way, after he took countless turns and countless swerves, when they reach the fountain. It’s located at the direct center of the park, where no one, not in this dead of night, goes to.

            Tetsurou reaches one arm out, and suddenly he’s tackling Kenma onto the bricked floor.

            “Ow,” is the first thing that comes out of Kenma’s mouth, and it’s then that Tetsurou realizes he’s looking down at Kenma, arms caging him just like the other was a while ago.

            “Got you,” Tetsurou says, and he’s just as breathless as he was before. Kenma looks up at him then, his blonde hair spread out behind him, lips apart from the lack of air going into his lungs and eyes wider than they’ve ever been.

            “You got me,” Kenma whispers, and Tetsurou can do nothing but stare at the boy below him, at the boy he made a promise to, at the boy he would never leave. Not now. Not ever.

            Slowly, Kenma reaches a hand up to Tetsurou’s cheek.

            “You told me my eyes were pretty.”

            “What?” Tetsurou asks, taken aback.

            “When we were kids,” Kenma says, pretty eyes locking onto Tetsurou’s as if there isn’t a sight he’d rather see. “When you pulled me down from the hill. When you introduced me to your mom. You told me my eyes were pretty.”

            “I… I don’t remember that,” Tetsurou says, trying to remember when he had ever said that in their childhood.

            “I know you don’t. You seem to forget many things, Kuro,” Kenma says.

            Tetsurou doesn’t say anything, just looks at Kenma like he does every day.

            He wants to know, so badly, the things he forgot. The things Kenma remembers. He wants to know whatever it is that his mind thought wasn’t important enough to remember, the things that Kenma’s mind thought otherwise.

            “You won’t forget me, right, Kuro?” Kenma asks. “You won’t leave me?”

            Tetsurou wonders if this is the reason why Kenma’s been acting so weird. If it was just another one of his graduation ceremonies, another one of his entrance ceremonies, another one of them. But that couldn’t be. It was too obvious an answer. It was too easy. This couldn’t be the answer.

            Then again… maybe that’s why it _is_ the answer.

            “Never,” Tetsurou says.

            “Good,” Kenma says back, and puts his hand down, closing his eyes as if he doesn’t have anything else to say, doesn’t have anything else left to do, has nowhere left to go.

            He’s so close, so close enough to kiss, if Tetsurou felt anything for him.

            But Tetsurou’s fairly certain that he’s not in love with Kenma. He’s never had that skip of a heartbeat, that tightness in his chest making him feel like he couldn’t breathe. All he has is that second definition.

            Then again… maybe, just maybe, that second definition is all he needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *muffled cackling*
> 
> No, but seriously, writing this series was honestly such a ride and was so much fun. I am So. McEffing. Happy with the way it turned out and I am just so proud of myself *wipes a tear*
> 
> Aghhh but thank you so much for following the Broken Record series, and I am so grateful for all the comments that were given. Every single one of them made me so happy and boosted my confidence so high up in the ceiling that I'm pretty sure there's a hole in my roof right now. 
> 
> And while this is the end to this series, this is certainly not an end to my writing as I have another series in mind that I am absolutely ECSTATIC to start writing. (Maybe you'll even see the reappearance of my OTP *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*)
> 
> (And of course, I am also writing for BTS, so if you're into that, check out my pseud @raikaya)
> 
> Again, thank you so much for reading this, and if you would like to discuss some events, ask questions (e.g. WHY DID YOU MAKE KENMA SAD IN LONELY HEARTS WHY) (that was my friend btw), or just yell at me for one reason or another, feel free to do so in the comments below!
> 
> Have a great day, and I hope you'll find the Kuroo to your Kenma.

**Author's Note:**

> btw if u read Break Room from my Reaching for the Skies (YakuLev Week 2016) series, theres a line that foreshadows Broken Record. have fun finding it! (dont worryㅡits not that hard)


End file.
